The call was floated at an opinion exchange meeting organised at Ittadi Garden and Grill Restaurant at Jackson Heights, New York, marking the Historic Farakka Day.
The meeting was presided over by Atiqur Rahman Khan Eusufzai Salu, Chairman of the International Farakka Committee, New York Inc. Syed Tipu Sultan, Secretary General of IFC, Advisors, Committee members, Journalists and many water rights activists were present.
Prof. Jasim Uddin Ahmed, president, International Farakka Committee, Bangladesh, read out a paper written by IFC Coordinator Mostafa Kamal Majumder and moderated at a meeting of the IFC Bangladesh in Dhaka. The IFC Bangladesh meeting was attended by Prof. Jasim Uddin Ahmad, Awlan Hossain Khan, senior Vice-Chairman, IFC, New York and Dr SI Khan senior Vice-President of IFC, Dhaka.
The paper urged the government of Bangladesh to make sure that the river remains alive from its origin to its outfall in the sea. Services of common rivers can be harnessed only if they are kept alive through integrated and sustainable management.
If preparations are not made right now, there would remain the danger of keeping the main issue beyond the purview of negotiations through diplomatic manoeuvres because Bangladesh does not have full-time dedicated negotiators.
Abot a hundred Bangladeshis resident in the US attended the opinion exchange meeting and expressed their firm commitment to create awareness about the issue, says a message received from Atiqur Rahman Salu, Chairman IFC, New York. – Staff Reporter